1. Razvan Preotu was awarded a chess scholarship and was a member of the university chess team for 6 years.
18 Facts About Razvan Preotu
1. 2.
Razvan Preotu studied with National Master Michael Egorov, a Hamilton, Ontario resident.
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Razvan Preotu then began to work online with Romanian Grandmaster George-Gabriel Grigore.
4.
Razvan Preotu won the Canadian Chess Challenge three consecutive times, for his grade 8, grade 9, and grade 10 years, in 2013,2014, and 2015.
5.
Razvan Preotu scored his first International Master norm at the 2013 North American Open in Las Vegas.
6.
Razvan Preotu earned his first win over a Grandmaster when he defeated Bator Sambuev, a Canadian Olympic team member, at the 2013 Guelph Pro-Am.
7.
Razvan Preotu made his second IM norm at the 2014 World Open at Arlington, Virginia; this was a Grandmaster norm.
8.
Razvan Preotu attained his third and final required IM norm at the 2014 US Masters and was awarded the title by FIDE later that year, as his FIDE rating had topped 2400.
9.
Razvan Preotu achieved his second GM norm at the 2014 SPICE Cup, in St Louis, Missouri.
10.
Razvan Preotu made his third and final required GM norm at the 2016 World Open in Philadelphia.
11.
One final step still remained before he could formally be awarded the GM title: the minimum 2500 rating, and Razvan Preotu completed this with his draw against GM Gata Kamsky in round five of the 2016 Washington, DC International.
12.
Razvan Preotu was granted the GM title during the 2016 FIDE Congress at Baku, Azerbaijan, in early September 2016, becoming the second youngest Canadian-born GM.
13.
Razvan Preotu played board one for Canada at the 2014 World Youth U16 Olympiad; Canada placed fifth.
14.
Razvan Preotu won the U16 Canadian title in 2015 and placed sixth at the 2015 World Youth Chess Championship for U16.
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In January 2023, Razvan Preotu tied for first place with GM Olexandr Bortnyk at the Charlotte Open.
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Razvan Preotu won the championship at the 2016 Calgary International, ahead of five GMs, becoming the first Canadian to win this title outright.
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Razvan Preotu was part of Team Canada at the 2018 Chess Olympiad, Batumi, Georgia, and 2022 Chess Olympiad, Chennai, India.
18.
Razvan Preotu has written articles for Chess Canada magazine, and recently released a book.